Dawning of a Decade

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

...and Dad, and Ben, and Dave, and Adam, and Vanna White, and John Travolta, and even Yoko Ono.  What a day!

The 14th

This day is dumb.
I liked it when I was a kid and Dad brought home chocolates in a heart shaped box for his GIRLS!  Where's Dad?

Frisson

Shivers!

Whoa Nelly, it got cold!  I don't know what happened because the last few days have been in the upper 30's, which felt like it was in the 60s after our previous cold spell.  Even this morning it was 39 degrees, but something happened while I was at work and it is COLD again - 19 degrees to be exact.  There is a far cry between 39 and 19.  Sitting in my room and listening to the wind howl down the street doesn't help things either.  When it even sounds cold...it's cold.

On a warmer note, I am playing with the New Amsterdam Symphony in concert this Friday!  We are playing the Brahms Requiem, which is a piece I have loved for years.  It is one of those that I got a hold of in undergrad and wore it out for a while. Nerdy factoid: Brahms' Requiem was first presented to the world on February 18 - my birthday!  A few years before I was born (112), but still...
What I love about this piece is the gorgeous choral writing and harmonies.  The clarinet part itself is kind of boring and exhausting to play (a lot of LONG notes a.k.a. good exercise), but I just play along and listen to all the beautiful sounds that surround me.  I've always loved Brahms...

Title-less Blog Post about Music and Opera

I am having a very 'musical' weekend.  I love when I get to have these, because in general I spend too much time at a desk and not enough time being musical.  Yesterday was a very nice day.   I did some teaching, followed up by a yummy vegetarian lunch, then did some roaming around in The Strand bookstore, some coffee, and lots of practicing.  That's a pretty nice way to spend a day...in my opinion.

This morning I got the day rolling with a book and a cup of coffee.  On the dock for today is an audition this afternoon and tonight I am going to see an opera at the Met!  I am meeting friends to see Nixon in China.  I'm very excited to see this opera because I love the music of John Adams and he will be conducting the original Peter Sellers production.  I went to a panel discussion earlier this week that included Mr. Adams and Sellers, among others from the cast and creative team, and learned  a lot about the creation and development of the opera.  I think the more you know about a work of art, the more you enjoy seeing it.  I also think there is a certain energy and excitement that comes with 'new' music where the people who actually came up with all the ideas are right there creating it again in front of my eyes.  Good stuff!